The Farmer and the Actress

He woke at five after getting only two hours of sleep; he had managed to write 30 pages, some of which might be usable. He went out, made coffee, and opened her bedroom door to let Goldie out. Then he took a cup of coffee and sat on the porch while she went about her morning business. The morning hadn't cleared his mind at all but he did feel like he had made the right decisions and in a little over three hours, this chapter of his life would be over and he could go on with a blank calendar in front of him.

When they went back inside, he could hear that she was up and moving around so he went into the other bathroom and cleaned up. For his meeting, jeans and a clean shirt would suffice. He also made a list of things he needed to pick up in town. When he came back to Goldie later, this would be over and he could pick up where he left off on Friday; maybe.

He was waiting for her when she came out carrying her briefcase and suitcase. "Chet, I have one more bag on the bed, would you get it for me please?"

He retrieved it and saw that she had changed the sheets and he wondered if he really wanted to wash them. When he returned to the front room, he asked, "Would you like a cup of coffee for the road?"

"Yes, that would be nice." She was silent for a minute and then said, "Chet, this has been a special weekend for me. I will miss you and I promise that I will be back."

"I would like that but I also know that you are busy. When you can come back, I will be happy to see you."

The whole conversation was formal and lifeless and he had no doubt that they both realized that. He put her things in the truck, filled Goldie's bowls full of water and food, and then they left. They didn't talk about anything serious on the drive as they both seemed to have reverted to their previous selves. At the car rental place, she leaned over and kissed him and then got out. He drove off before the lump in his throat could explode.

The drive to the radio station took fifteen minutes and it took several minutes for him to review why he was there and what he needed to do. Part of the arrangements was that he would be alone in a studio for the interview and that only one engineer would be there to run the equipment. He didn't want a bunch of people around gawking. Finally, he got out with his coffee in hand and entered the building and asked for the engineer. Quickly, he was in the studio and they did the sound checks before he put on the headphones so he could hear the interviewer who was 1500 miles away.

An hour later he left after the engineer assured him that everything was great. They would merge the two tapes, edit them together, and the interview would be aired later that afternoon. Chet thanked him for his support and left knowing that he would be in the garden when the interview would be aired. He ran his errands and picked up the things he needed and was back letting Goldie out before noon. Once again, he went into his bedroom and noticed the sheets. He sighed before he picked them up and put them in the washing machine. He didn't need that memory to constantly remind him of what his mind was already telling him.

The lunch options were boring; he didn't want to work in the garden; looking at the computer didn't inspire him; taking Goldie for a walk seemed to be too strenuous. He ended up taking a nap. When he woke, he didn't feel refreshed at all and now he had to decide on what to eat for dinner. He opted for a bowl of soup and a six pack of beer and resolved to himself that tomorrow he had to put this behind him and get back into his routine.

He knew what the outcome of her meeting would be and knew that she would be happy. She would go back to her world and achieve her dreams. When he allowed himself to accept that, he calmed down and added a grilled cheese sandwich to his menu for the evening.

What he heard later was that the meeting went as anticipated. Six lawyer/agent types sat around the conference table bullshitting each other with Rachel sitting at the table alone and quiet. His lawyer and agent laid out the terms and conditions and then let the people submit their offers. As they filed out of the room shortly before one, his lawyer and friend asked Rachel to stay back for a moment. When she left two hours later, she had the contract in her hand even though all of the offers were still sitting on the table unopened. The smile on her face was matched by the confusion in her head. She was certain that her offer did not equal the others. She had been in the business too long and knew how the big guys threw money around. But she had the contract and couldn't wait to get started. She had already done a lot of the homework on the project in hopes of getting the deal but the trip to Dallas had been her effort to try and show that she could do a better job than anyone else. But she hadn't been successful in finding Oliver Franklin; in fact, she hadn't made much of an effort to find him. She had been distracted by Chet and she couldn't tell herself why. She had enjoyed herself but it was way outside of her normal routine. But she had the contract and that was what she came for.

An hour later, she was picking up her friend, maybe her only real friend, at the airport. Rachel was on cloud nine and couldn't stop talking. Megan Mallory was just as excited as her friend because she knew just how important this deal was to her. But she was also aware of the radio and the interview that was about to be broadcast.

"Hey, girlfriend; slow down a little. They are about to broadcast an interview with Oliver Franklin."

"What? What did you say?"

"Just shut up for a moment and listen."

They listened for five minutes as the interviewer talked to Oliver Franklin about his rise as one of the most important novelist of this decade. Then they talked about his latest novel which was currently considered one of the most desirable properties by most of the big studios. During this discussion, Franklin had said that he had decided who would get the contract several weeks ago but that they had to go through the process to keep people happy. He also felt that the people who he had chosen would do the best job and produce the most faithful version of his novel. During the last part of the interview, Franklin was asked about his reluctance to become a public figure. His response was "Scott, I live in a small town and don't want to be the center of attention. I'm just a member of the community and try to do my part. That's all." Then the interview was over.

Megan looked at her friend and asked, "So; what do you think?"

"I think that tomorrow morning, we are going to take a road trip and I am going to kill Oliver Franklin."

The next morning, Chet woke up with a fuzzy head and a fuzzier mouth. For the umpteenth time, he swore off of beer as a sleep inducer. He knew that he was lying to himself but it was the only thing he felt safe in promising himself. It was late and rather than eat breakfast, he just pulled on his worn coveralls and went to the garden. An hour later, he heard a car pull into the driveway and stop. Then he heard a familiar voice yell, "Chester McAdams, where the hell are you?"

He responded with the same degree of irritation that he heard. "I thought that I got rid of you yesterday."

A few moments later, Rachel came storming into the garden followed by Goldie and then Megan Mallory. Rachel walked right up and glared at him. "You lied to me Chester McAdams or should I say Oliver Franklin!"

"I didn't lie to you at all, Rachel, or should I say Jillian Bannister, Arrinton. Let's see, it went 'No, I am not her; I just look a lot like her.' Now that was bald faced bullshit."

"That was covering my ass. I asked if you knew Oliver Franklin. You said 'NO!' Asshole."

"I didn't lie to you. Oliver Franklin is a one dimensional figment of my imagination and I'm not sure that I would like him if he really did exist. He exists for the sole purpose of letting me live here and do the things I do and that I am. You came down here to try to persuade me to give you a shot at getting the rights to the book. You got what you came for. What else do you want?"

She stared at him for a long time, then she said "Goldie, let's go take a walk." She walked off with Goldie. Chet looked at Megan.

She stepped forward with her hand out and said, "Hi, I am......"

"I know; you are Megan Mallory, Rachel's best friend. I have something for youtoo but it is in the house."

"Chet, can I ask you a question?

"Sure."

"Actually it is two questions. How do you feel about Rachel and what are you going to do about it?"

There it was again; the questions he would not answer openly or to himself. "Megan, I know that the two of you are close; very close. I'll make a deal with you; on the night that this movie premiers if she can look me in the eye and tell me that it was the very best that she can do, you ask me those same questions again and I will answer them."

"Chet, you have a deal and I will expect full honest answers."

"That is what I will give you."

"Good, we have a deal. Let's get what you want to give me and I better get her out of here or we will miss our flight."

They walked back to the house and he went inside to get the envelope. Rachel was scratching Goldie's stomach on the lawn. When he came out, both Megan and Rachel got in the car and Goldie was trying to find a way to get in with them. He handed the envelope to Megan and whispered, "Wait to open it until you are gone."

A moment later, the car was going quickly down the driveway and he and Goldie stood and watched them go. He suspected that Goldie had a tear in her eye too.

As they neared the airport, Rachel turned to Megan and said, "What did he give you?"

"An envelope; I haven't opened it."

"Open it and tell me what it says."

Megan carefully opened the envelope and took out one sheet of paper with careful writing. There was a small note also but she ignored it for now.

"What does it say?"

"Megan, make sure that you tell Rachel to cast you as Maggie. If she wants to be on screen, she needs to be Katie. Chet"

"That son of a bitch! I should have killed him a while ago." Suddenly she pulled off the highway into a parking lot and took out her phone. A moment later, she said, "You bastard! You know good and well I want to play Maggie. Why should I cast Megan in that role, asshole?"

"Rachel, when you calm down and think about it, you will see that I am right. I wrote the story with her in mind. You need to spend your time behind the camera, not in front of it."

With full sarcasm in her voice, she asked, "And just why is that?"

"Because you need to be Katie in the sequel and it will win you the Academy Award you are desperate for." He hung up before she replied and also turned off his phone. He should have congratulated himself on doing what he knew was best but he really felt like he had just betrayed his best friend. At that moment, Chet didn't like himself very much. A few moments later, he threw a couple of things in a suitcase and he and Goldie drove off in his truck. He didn't return for two weeks.

What he didn't hear was Megan telling Rachel, "Rachel, we have been friends for long time, haven't we?'

"Yes." She was still staring at the dead phone.

"And we agreed that we were always going to be honest with each other, regardless of anything else. Right?"

"Of course; I remember."

"Then listen. Earth to Rachel. You stupid bitch, you don't want to kill Chet; you want to marry him. It is written all over your face and he probably just died when you drove off. Now cut out the Prima Donna Hollywood bull shit and read over your script again and decide what you want to do with it. He handed it to you because he trusted you. He wants you to deliver your absolute best work. If you do that, you will be surprised at what waits at the end."

Rachel just stared at her for a moment and then began driving the rest of the way to the airport without saying a word.

For his part, he had no place in mind to go; so he just drove hoping that distance and time would dampen the feeling gnawing inside him. Goldie was happy; she looked out the window for about five minutes and then curled up in the back seat and went to sleep. He wished he led her simple life.

He drove south but wanted to avoid the Houston area, so he veered westward and found himself on the highway to Corpus Christi and that became his ultimate destination. Goldie had never been to the ocean and if he couldn't relax on a beach, he couldn't relax. They spent the night in a small motel and drove into Corpus during the early afternoon. He quickly discovered that the place was packed full with vacationers and that there wasn't a hotel or motel room to be had at any price. As he drove around trying to decide where to go next, he passed a travel trailer lot and almost caused a wreck as he quickly turned into their driveway. An hour and a half later, Goldie and he were towing their hotel room with them and headed for a campground near the beach that the salesman had told him about. He stopped at a store and bought food for both of them and found a space to hook up to. Then he took Goldie to the beach for her first romp in the sand and surf. Her activity on the beach gave his aching soul some respite. She was behaving like he had felt for three days, alive and glad of it. The feeling was short lived, but for a while, he was able to escape from himself.

Over the next week, he bought several sets of beach wear because he had only brought a minimal amount of clothing. He was also able to lose himself in the sequel. If anything, he wrote faster and more passionately than he had before and was aware that he would probably have to edit that portion very carefully to maintain the storyline.

They stayed for ten days at the beach before they began the trek home. With each mile, he felt dread building as he knew that when he arrived home, all of the feelings and emotions would come back to the surface. He guessed that his dread was justified because as soon as he walked in the front door, he knew that she had been there. Nothing was out of place or missing but he could smell her perfume on the sofa, his recliner, and in his bed. There was no message or note; but she had been there.

Goldie went exploring to check out her territory while he unloaded the travel trailer and parked it next to the barn. Now it was time to fix some dinner and settle back down and try to clear his head. That was beginning to take place when his phone rang at nine o'clock but he did not recognize the number.

"Hello." He said cautiously.

"Thank God! Chet are you all right? This is Megan."

"Yes, Megan; I am all right or mostly so. Goldie and I took a vacation to the beach." There was a long pause. "Megan, is she there with you?"

"No; I am alone and am trying to think about what to say and tell you."

"Well then, just tell me what you want me to know; I 'm not going to publish it anywhere."

"Ok, but don't tell her that I told you this."

"That's not likely to happen; I doubt that she will ever speak to me again."

"You are just as stupid as she is. Both of you are so terrified of getting hurt again that you can't see what is right in front of your face. She cried for three days after we left. We went to New York for her appearance and she did that in her usual professional way but once we got back to the hotel, she cried and I had to force her to eat."

"Shit. I guess I messed things up pretty good."

"No dammit; that is what I am trying to tell you. You didn't do anything wrong and neither did she. Both of you just denied that what you were experiencing was real. After three days, she finally decided that she needed to clear the air with you. She went down to your place and stayed for five days, hoping that you would come back. You didn't. She went to the market and talked to the people that know you and none of them had any idea that you were even gone. So she spent five days alone in your house and worked on the script and I mean she really worked her ass off. She finally had to leave because she had to be at the first preproduction meeting and I will tell you right now, she is putting everything she has into this film. You asked for her best and you will get it. I was shocked at her attitude at the meeting and the people responded to her like they never have before."

"I am glad to hear that but I am also concerned that she will try to push things too far."

"I'm going to keep a close eye on her for that too. So don't be surprised if I call you occasionally with an update. When she got back, she said that she wasn't going to try to see or talk to you until this was done and could look you in the eye and tell you that this was the best she could do. And she wants to do that face to face; so you better plan on being at the premier."

"I already told you that I would. "

"All right. Now........" I could hear her take a deep breath. "I am going to tell you some things about her that no friend should ever tell anyone; but you need to know this. She..."

"Wait, I don't want you to risk your friendship with her by telling me her private things."

"Hush and listen. You need to understand some things about her and there is no way for you to find them out without me telling you. This is a really nasty business and a horrible town to live in. 90% of what you read and hear is pure bullshit. Hollywood could care less about Rachel Arrington but they are in love with Jillian Bannister. They can't get enough pictures, stories, or rumors about her loves, likes, and activities. Rachel Arrington is a simple girl with small town values; Jillian Bannister is the epitome of the movie star. She dates only the most handsome leading men and dines in the finest restaurants. But that is all show. Every one of her romances except one was fabricated in the PR office of a studio because that draws attention to her latest film project and sells tickets. Her current 'flame' is just that. She invests her money in projects she likes and if it takes a romance to get the people out there to come see it and make it successful, she will have a paper romance with the star. The fact is that her divorce six years ago almost destroyed her. Since then she has not even gone on a real date with any man. They are all fiction. She threw herself into her work and did what she needed to do to be successful but she is terribly lonely and desperately wants a family and children and all of the rest that goes with it. No one has come close to catching her attention until she met you. You treated her like Rachel; not Jillian. You broke through her protective barriers and showed her what she wanted most. When she found out that you knew who she was all along, she felt that you were using her and she felt betrayed. It wasn't until her stay at your place that she began to realize that you were treating her like Rachel because that is the kind of guy you are. It finally snuck in. So I don't know what the future holds for either one of you but whatever it is, you need to know just how fragile this strong and successful woman really is. So that is what I wanted to tell you. If I hear that on the street, I will probably never speak to you again, ever."

Chet thought for a minute and replied, "If you hear it on the street, rest assured that it didn't come from me."

"I believe you. Now, I need to go and have dinner with her. This call didn't take place, but watch E-Tonight after the news and maybe you will see what I mean."

"Thanks Megan; I can't tell you how much this means to me. I think I have some of my own healing to do between now and the premier."

"Chet, I am glad to hear you say that. Take care and I'll be in touch." She hung up and he sat there staring at the phone.